MUMBAI: Price hikes are around the corner, but for now, it’s raining discounts for car buyers.

With no clarity on an extension of excise duty cuts beyond December 31, and cost pressures mounting, auto makers are expected to increase prices in January – in fact, some popular models may see a hike in prices over the next few weeks. Withdrawal of the tax benefits announced in February alone could make caRs costlier by 4-6%. Ahead of that, carmakers have sweetened the offers to push sales, as the all-important festival season has turned out to be one of disappointment.

According to industry executives and based on various offers from auto makers , the level of discounts and benefits has peaked to a record high of 10-15% of the cost of vehicles. The offers include cash discounts, free insurance and exchange bonus. In the luxury end of the market, manufactures are adding attractive finance packages to make the brands more easily accessible.

The year-end is approaching, too. Auto makers traditionally offer higher discounts during this period and in March to entice buyers who may otherwise wait for the New Year, calendar or fiscal, to make the purchase.

“Without exception, the year-end tends to offer the best deal to the customers,” said Anuraag Mehrotra, executive director for marketing, sales and service at the Indian unit of Ford Motor. “The uptick in the industry has not been to the extent expected. However, consumer sentiment is still strong, so everyone wants to cash in on it,” Mehrotra said.

In the mainstream market for cars costing up to Rs 15 lakh, the offers range from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1.1 lakh. For models costing more, they could be from Rs 1.5 lakh to as high as Rs 10 lakh.

The top two players in the local market, Maruti Suzuki and the Indian unit of Hyundai Motor, expanded their offers by 8-10% in November compared with the festival season. Others too have packaged attractive deals to close the year on a positive note, which so far has been a tough one for many.

“Consumer promotions are generally highest during these months. For the first time, diesel products are also available on discount during this period,” said Rakesh Srivastava, senior vice-president for sales and marketing at Hyundai Motor India. Being the year-end, lot of used caRs are exchanged for new ones. So, carmakers have increased incentive on exchanges further for November and December.

In Mumbai discounts on the Wagon R Stingray and the diesel variants of the Dzire and Ertiga have increased by about Rs 5,000-20,000 since the beginning of this month. The Stingray is available with a discount of as much as Rs 80,000. Maruti offeRs heavy discounts on several other models as well.

“Discounts continue to be at an alltime high level. We won’t be able to take them off so soon. Industry growth is not broad-based, it’s more sentiment driven,” a Maruti senior executive said recently while talking to analysts during its second-quarter earnings call.

In Delhi, Hyundai has introduced what it called a special price on the Eon small car. At Rs 2.45 lakh, it is Rs 43,000 cheaper than the earlier price. For the longstanding Santro hatchback, it offeRs a discount of Rs 38,500. Its discounts range from Rs 20,000 on the i10 Grand LPG to Rs 80,000 for the Sonata.

With major facelifts hitting the market, dealers who are saddled with prefacelift models of the Fiat Punto (Rs 80,000), Maruti Swift (Rs 25,000) and Mahindra Scorpio (Rs 50,000) are liquidating them at attractive prices.

But the offers aren’t limited to old models. Renault’s four-wheel-drive version of the Duster SUV, launched in this festival season, is already available at a special price of Rs 11.29 lakh, which is Rs 60,000 lower than its launch price.

Among luxury brands, Mercedes-Benz’s E Class sedan is available with benefits worth Rs 3 lakh, while the offers on the AudiA3, A4 and A6 range from Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 5.5 lakh. In the SUV space, Audi’s Q3, Q5 and Q7 are available with benefits of Rs 60,000 to Rs 4.6 lakh. BMW is also making competitive offers.

November and December, which used be lean months for car sales, have started ringing in higher retails over the last few years. Carmakers too have started preparing their stock situation accordingly, said a senior executive at an MNC.

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